I don't believe in titles
by Anathema2
Summary: The Imperius Curse is inflicted upon fourteen-year-old Remus Lupin by the ever-menacing Professor Brachiatory. The girl Remus loves, Ember Maric, must save Remus--but can he save her? And is he worth saving? very AU
1.

Remus Lupin awoke from his dream, and his eyes snapped open. He glanced at his watch. It was one o'clock in the morning. No sooner had he wondered what had awakened him than somewhere off in the distance, Remus heard a voice. A faint voice, true, but nevertheless present. He shuddered. Something about the voice was eerily familiar. Though he knew it was unwise, he had an irresistible urge to find its source. Without knowing why, he followed its weirdly enchanting rhythm. He scarcely knew where he was going until he felt the onslaught of January wind that could only mean that he had left the castle and was now on the grounds. As he drew nearer to the voice's sound, he understood what the words it was speaking meant. "Come to the light, Remus," it whispered. 

"That's strange," he thought. "There is no light…" However, in a few paces, he could see that there was. It came from the Shrieking Shack. His eyes fixed firmly on his goal, Remus approached the Whomping Willow. Much to his surprise, the one knot near the spiteful tree's base had already immobilized the tree, forcing it to abandon its usual goal of attacking any creature that dared come within reach. Remus, failing to pay this the attention it deserved, slid into the passage that led to the Shrieking Shack. 

After what seemed like ages, he reached the exit. Just as he was about to hoist himself out of the tunnel, someone else did it for him "Hello, Lupin," said a familiarly cold voice. Remus looked up, and found himself staring into the stone-grey eyes of Professor Brachiatory. "Er...hello," Remus said, trying to pull away from Brachiatory's unshakable grip. "Fancy meeting you here. Could you let me go?" 

"Physically? Of course," Brachiatory said, smiling evilly as he released his grip on Remus's wrist. 

"That was just a little too sinister-sounding," Remus said, trying to make his way out. Brachiatory blocked the exit with his body. "Okay, so I'm not leaving," Remus muttered. "But what do you mean, you'll let me go _physically?_ As opposed to what?" 

"That's what you're here to find out, Lupin," Brachiatory snapped, looking thoroughly pleased with his nasty little voice tricks. 

"Well, then—I suppose there's no point in putting it off any longer." Remus suddenly noticed that Brachiatory's hand was clutching his wand tightly, holding it in a pose that implied that he was prepared to attack at any moment. The fact that Remus's own wand was still in the dormitory did nothing to calm him. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Remus asked suspiciously. 

"No, Lupin, not yet," Brachiatory said, looking irritated. "Carry on interrupting me like this, however, and I may change my mind. Now, I will not kill you here, not now. However, as stated before, I may change my mind. The longer your friends have to live, the shorter _you_ have to live." 

"Er—what? I'm sorry, I don't speak villain dialect," Remus apologized, though rather bitterly. 

Brachiatory sighed. "What I meant was I want you to join forces with me. Don't be afraid. I will not harm you, provided your friends are dead in a timely, neat manner. If they are not, your own existence is jeopardized." 

Remus stared at him in disbelief. "What? Are you mad? Do you really think I'd do something like that to my friends? I'm not helping you!" 

Brachiatory's face twisted menacingly. "So you have chosen the path of pain, suffering, and force. So be it." 

A bright red light flashed from Brachiatory's wand. Before Remus knew what was happening, he had been hit with a very powerful Cruciatus curse. As he bit his lip, Remus knew that this was no ordinary wizard with a fondness for torture. This was a purely evil professor, bent on killing Remus and his friends. Remus knew perfectly well what his role would be. He would be used as a tool, simply a murder weapon to be used at Brachiatory's discretion. Remus himself would have no control over his mind or body. And when he was no longer needed, he, too, would be killed. "That isn't going to change my mind," Remus said, as Brachiatory sent another Cruciatus curse his way. "I still won't let you do it." He knew that, logically, there was no way of escaping, but there was always the very slim chance that Brachiatory would get tired and wander away. 

Brachiatory looked at Remus piercingly. "You know perfectly well that I will do it, regardless of whether or not you let me. There are ways, Lupin, of making you obey." Brachiatory sent another stream of curses flying at Remus's head. The red light flashed from the wand, inducing the now-familiar pain. Though writhing on the ground in agony had never been considered by Remus as very much fun, this was a situation wherein Remus found it necessary. 

"I don't suppose you'll cooperate now, will you?" he heard Brachiatory saying from what seemed like very far off. 

"I don't want to." Brachiatory pinned Remus to the ground with one hand and thrust his wand into Remus's face with the other. "I suppose I don't have much choice, though," Remus added hastily. 

"You suppose correctly, Lupin," Brachiatory hissed, smiling maliciously. 

Remus thought a moment. "Well," he asked slowly, "will you kill me if I refuse?" 

"Yes." 

"And my friends?" 

"Yes again." 

"How soon?" 

"Very." 

Remus pondered his chances for a moment. It didn't seem like he and his friends had much chance of surviving either way. On the other hand, Remus was fairly certain that they would stay alive longer if he agreed to Brachiatory's offer. "I—I guess I'll let you," he said defeatedly. 

Brachiatory grinned evilly and patted Remus on the head condescendingly. "Excellent, Lupin," he whispered. "I knew you'd learn to see sense." Brachiatory raised his wand. "Imperio!" he hissed. 

Remus felt a shiver run down his back. His mind felt wonderfully numb. Somewhere, Brachiatory's faint voice was telling him to go back to his dormitory and get some sleep. Remus sighed sadly, and walked slowly out of the Whomping Willow. 

He hardly knew what he was doing. He knew only that he had been hit with the Imperius Curse, a spell that was extremely difficult to break. For a moment he stood in the Whomping Willow, struggling against its power…but he couldn't do it. His head spun, perhaps literally. Remus wasn't entirely sure. 

Remus walked almost robot-like back to the boys' dormitory. As he was not paying attention to where he was going, he crashed right into the Fat Lady's portrait. 

"Well!" the Fat Lady exclaimed indignantly, brushing off her pink dress. 

"Sorry," Remus muttered, though he was really not sorry and would be only too glad to crash into her again. He had never particularly liked the Fat Lady. 

The Fat Lady rolled her eyes. "Password?" 

"Pixie bite," Remus said automatically. He stepped inside the common room and began to ascend the staircase. He was so detached that he didn't notice the person sitting in the common room until she whispered his name. 

"Remus?" hissed Ember Maric, Remus's girlfriend. 

Remus turned. "Yeah?" 

"What are you doing out of bed?" she inquired. 

Remus looked away. "Nothing. Good night, Ember," he said tersely, and walked up the stairs. Just before he shut the door, he heard Ember sigh sadly. Oddly, he found that he didn't particularly care. 


	2. 

Remus awoke involuntarily the next morning due to Sirius Black, one of Remus's best friends, poking him. "Remus, get up!"   
"Mrf," said Remus. He removed his face slightly from the pillow and mumbled, "I'm not awake...been wide asleep the whole time...you aren't real...elephants..."   
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Remus, we've got classes," he reminded Remus gently.   
Remus, who normally cared about his grades and was sometimes even capable of enjoying his classes, said, "Classes can die."   
Sirius sighed. James Potter, another of Remus's friends, had been parented in such a way that it was impossible for him not to be observant. "Remus, that's not like you," he pointed out, sounding as though he might be slightly concerned about Remus's health.   
Now mostly awake, Remus snapped, "Maybe it is like me. What makes you so certain it isn't? But don't let me keep you two from the classes you seem to like so much. Run along now, and get on with your so-called lives."   
Sirius and James looked at each other meaningfully. "Fine," James said, sounding slightly hurt, yet still angry. The two of them walked from the dormitory, leaving Remus to his lack of thought.   
Why did I do that? he thought bitterly. I'm an idiot... And then he remembered. The events of the previous night suddenly flooded into his brain like a swarm of angry wasps. He had little time to dwell on this, however, for at that moment, Brachiatory's voice hissed a command at him.   
"Lupin...come see me..."  
But I don't want to! Remus thought.   
"But you have to," Brachiatory's voice replied smugly. And even as the command reached Remus, he could feel his feet carrying him involuntarily down the stairs and out the portrait hole. He sighed sadly. It was a very pathetic time indeed when one was betrayed by one's own feet.   
He walked quickly out to the Shrieking Shack in the same mechanical fashion as before, being careful not to make eye contact with anyone. He barely knew where he was going until the bright light of outside dimmed, and he heard the faint sound of something bubbling.   
The first thing Remus saw when he entered the Shrieking Shack was Brachiatory, looking very smug and stirring a small cauldron. Remus cleared his throat. "Sir?" he asked. "What are you doing?"   
Brachiatory looked up and saw Remus. "I am potion-brewing, Lupin," he said tersely.   
This struck Remus as a bit odd. "Er...right," he said. "So...why am I here?"   
Brachiatory grinned. "Because I am almost finished. I'll need you here when I'm done making the potion. Now...did you sleep? Answer me truthfully."   
Remus sighed. "Not well," he said quietly. "Maybe for fifteen minutes or so." Brachiatory glared at him. Remus shuffled his feet, looking guiltily at the floor. "Well, you did ask me to be truthful," he said.   
"So I did," Brachiatory conceded, pouring the contents of the cauldron into an earthenware mug, which he held out to Remus.   
Remus blinked. "Er...what is that stuff?"   
Brachiatory sighed. "It's your only means of survival. You're not allowed to go to the Great Hall to eat, because that takes too much time. It also enables you to interact with other students, who may notice your condition. This potion, for which I am very grateful, gives the drinker enough energy and vitamins to go a day without food." He pressed the mug into Remus's hands.   
"Er...right." Remus stared down at the foamy, tan mixture.   
"Drink it," Brachiatory urged. "You will not need to eat-only drink this once a day, and you're done."   
Remus eyed the foul-smelling liquid suspiciously, trying to resist the command. The strange potion bubbled innocently. "I-I don't know," he said skeptically.   
"I won't try to poison you, Lupin; not yet, anyway," Brachiatory assured Remus. "Go on-drink. It will do you good."   
Hesitantly, Remus raised the mug to his lips and drank tentatively. Remus would have expected it to taste as bad as it smelled, but instead it merely lacked flavor altogether. It was cold, though-almost like ice. He shivered slightly. Brachiatory noticed.   
"Yes-you'll want to dress warmly, Lupin. I'm afraid you may become ill, in your vulnerable state, and we can't have that happening." Remus nodded. Brachiatory grinned, in something of a less intimidating manner, though intimidating all the same. "Now," he said, "go on and get to class."   
Remus turned to go. As he was leaving, Brachiatory called after him, "Get some sleep tonight, Lupin!" Remus sighed, and nodded. Brachiatory turned his back to Remus, leaving him to walk, shivering, back to the castle. 


	3. 

Alethia Jaynard choked slightly as she tried to inhale the heavily scented air of the Divination room.  Alethia hated the Divination classroom, and she had long suspected that she had an allergy to incense, but she couldn't bring herself to drop the class.  It had helped her fix problems more than once in the past, and Professor Trelawney had told Alethia that she had the makings of a true Seer.  Nevertheless, Alethia's external eyes were often too busy noting problems in the present to allow her Inner Eye to unravel the troubles of the future.  

Today, Alethia's external eyes were particularly busy with the matter of Remus Lupin.  She and Remus had been best friends since they were children, and she could always tell when something was bothering him.  Alethia hadn't seen Remus at breakfast, and at first she had attributed this to the lunar cycle.  She hadn't remembered until later, when Remus had arrived late to Potions class, that the full moon had been barely a week ago.  She had thought this very odd, and had studied Remus very carefully.  He seemed exhausted and troubled, and Alethia couldn't help noticing that the shadows under his eyes were much darker than usual.  

Alethia's train of thought abruptly derailed, plummeted off of a bridge, and burst into flame when Professor Trelawney emerged from the shadows.  

"Welcome, children," she said in her soft, mystical voice.  "Today we will be revisiting our lessons from last year on crystal gazing."  She waved her wand, and crystal balls appeared in front of each student.  "For those of you who were not with us last year, or who didn't feel the need to pay attention," she said, staring pointedly at Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter, "I will be giving a brief review of crystal balls."  

Alethia sighed heavily as Trelawney launched into what promised to be a very boring lecture on the divining arts.  She turned her attention to her crystal ball, and was surprised to see that the normally white fog inside it was swirling and turning a stormy gray.  She stared deep into the fog, squinting slightly, trying to see what the crystal was saying...

_I am reaching for something I cannot grasp.  The force against which I am attempting to work is a far greater power than I can even imagine, to say nothing of the fact that I haven't a clue as to what I'm dealing with.  Whatever it is, it's driving us all mad..._

"...and then we gaze into the ball, concentrating with all our might..."

Alethia groaned softly.  _Stupid Professor Trelawney, she thought.  _I'm trying to crystal-gaze, if you don't mind._  She looked back into the orb, breathing deeply.  _

_We've come to a room with no doors and no windows, but I know if someone can find a pickaxe, a wand—anything—then there'll be a way out.  But someone is in the room with us, and we can't search for exits without them noticing..._

"Some people see images from the future.  Others hear voices.  Still more see symbols..."

Alethia nearly screamed.  She _hated losing her concentration.  _

_There is a great eye in the center of all that we see and do.  It watches us following our every move.  If something is amiss, the great eye will see.  But if the great eye is blinded, then nothing can save us..._

"For example, the club may represent an attack..."  

"Like the one I'm planning now," Alethia muttered. 

_Ember's hands, stained with blood that only she can see..._

"Since you seem so _fascinated_, Mr. Lupin, why don't you display your knowledge of divination to the class?  Let's see if you can read the crystal."  

Remus, who had been trying to sleep with his head on the table, sat up quickly.  "I—I can't, Professor."  

Alethia dug her nails into the palms of her hands to keep from digging them into Trelawney's skin.  The anger she had already been feeling because of her broken concentration only made Trelawney's harsh treatment of Remus seem much worse.  

"You can't read your crystal?  Then let's see if I can."  Trelawney walked over to Remus's table and gazed into his crystal ball.  "Let's see...oh, my goodness."  Trelawney's eyebrows flew up in a hugely exaggerated show of surprise.  "Danger lies ahead, and there will be many, many attacks—some from enemies, and some—oh, dear—from friends.  And there will be great sadness—"  

There was a loud clunking noise, a shattering of glass, and a sharp scream from Professor Trelawney as a spherical glass object flew across the room and landed at Trelawney's feet.  

Alethia jumped up from her seat.  "Oh, Professor, let me help you clean that up!" she cried, sounding genuinely concerned.  She gathered up the shattered pieces of glass.  "Oh—by the way, Professor," she added, "I'll be needing a new crystal ball."  

Author's note: Guys, this'll be the last one for a while.  I need some time to figure out where I'm going with this story.  Chances are that I'll eventually rewrite the entire thing.  I want to finish it before I start posting chapters, because I don't have the discipline to post as I write.  Oh, and if you like Alethia, I'm currently working on a story about her.  TTFN—ta-ta for now!  


End file.
